GEllenburghttps://gellenburg.net
Masticated ideas resulting in pithy musings and cantankerous ruminations.Sun, 24 Dec 2017 14:28:43 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.6Soprani.cahttps://gellenburg.net/2017/12/soprani-ca/?pk_campaign=feed&pk_kwd=soprani-ca
https://gellenburg.net/2017/12/soprani-ca/?pk_campaign=feed&pk_kwd=soprani-ca#respondSun, 24 Dec 2017 14:28:43 +0000https://gellenburg.net/?p=41Continue readingSoprani.ca]]>Those who know me know I have a love-hate relationship with the phone. I despise the telephone, but at the same time I recognize that it’s an essential part of communication. (I still hate it though.)

Given the choice, I’d much rather communicate with you over text/SMS, Email, or even XMPP. So when I came across a Motherboardarticle earlier this month describing a project that aims to replace all the little bits and bobs that go into making our phone’s work with open source alternatives I was intrigued!

What this means is that you can get a telephone number not tied to any Phone Company. You can send and receive texts, pictures, and videos (SMS/ MMS, etc.) You can use this number to register with Signal instead of having to give out your “real” phone number to the Public.

Because it’s SIP on the back-end you can use Jitsi on your desktop, or your favorite Android or iOS SIP client to make or receive calls from your phone.

You can even stop paying for voice minutes and only pay for data! Perfect if you’re on Ting for example and are usually near WiFi where you’re usually at. No WiFi? Simply use Ting to pay for the data that you use.

If you’re a Project Fi user, you can take advantage of Google’s free data-only SIMs and pay nothing extra! Definitely the best deal on the planet.

Over the past couple of days I signed up with an account and ended up porting over one of my Google Voice numbers to the service. (I had to sign up for a separate Google Voice number because Project Fi is unfortunately not compatible with Google Voice so when I got my Pixel 2 XL I would have either had to give up my T-Mobile number or my Google Voice. Something I didn’t want to do!)

I used an existing Jabber ID that I had with riseup.net. This would cause me problems later since the riseup jabber service didn’t support all the jabber extensions that JMP requires.

The first thing you need to do is create a Jabber ID if you haven’t done so already. The jmp.chat site walks you through the process. It’s very simple and straight-forward!

Next you need a Jabber client. If you’re using Android, Conversations is the best, but it’s $2.49 (and worth every penny). Xabber is quite good too! If you’re running iOS, JMP recommends Tigase Messenger (free), but I’m more partial to ChatSecure (free). YMMV, and ChatSecure may not support all the features Soprani.ca requires.

Next you’ll be asked to tell jmp.chat the Jabber ID you want to use. You can use multiple Jabber IDs and obtain multiple numbers, but only one number can be associated with one Jabber ID at a time.

The system will send a confirmation code to your Jabber account to verify that you entered the correct ID and that you’re in control over the account. This is the only “data” that ties your account to a number.

Note, if you’re porting a number an additional screen is displayed that asks you for your current phone number’s billing and accounting information. This information is required for Soprani.ca to “port” your current number over to their VoIP provider.

Once your new number (or temporary number if you’re porting) has been activated, you’ll receive a screen with some useful information explaining how to use the service. Included on this screen will be information you’ll need for configuring your SIP client in order to send or receive calls.

Print this out or save this page! If you lose this information, you’ll have to reach out to Support to get the information again and it might take a while. Soprani.ca is run by volunteers right now.

Accounts will be free for the first 30 days, but after February, 2018, the service comes out of Beta and charges will be finalized. I highly recommend upgrading to a paid account to help fund and support the project.

Next on the list for project Soprani.ca is to replace the cell-towers with a global network of mesh routers. I’m excited that Soprani.ca is planning on using cjdns for transport! Been a huge fan of cjdns and Caleb DeLisle’s work for years.

Would love to see Soprani.ca integrate with Enigmabox eventually. Enigmabox already provides Asterisk and several useful applications, all using cjdns/ hyperboria for transport. Would seem to be a natural fit for Enigmabox to include an xmpp server.

My next plans are to turn my iPhone 6S Plus, Nexus 6, and OnePlus 5 into Soprani.ca extensions by ordering data-only SIMs for them from Project Fi. I also have a 4G LTE MyFi from Calyx (thanks to an article from Cory Doctorow) for when I don’t have free wifi nearby.

So it seems that Google, the Internet’s Benevolent Dictator, had inadvertently decided that a small number of users of its Google Docs service were creating documents which violated The GOOG‘s Terms of Service.

Turns out (and we really should have all known this) that Google is scanning everything you type. Presumably looking for users’ hell-bent on joining Daesh, or people trafficking in child porn or other illegal material.

Google says it was a bug. An error in their automated scanning looking for Terms of Service violations, but this has been — if anything — a wake up call, and if you weren’t surprised (or even alarmed) at this, then you not only haven’t been paying attention, but you don’t apparently value your privacy.

Facebook and You: If you’re not paying for it, you’re not the customer. You’re the product being sold.

Google, as we know, is an advertising Company. So they can help target ads to you they want to know as much about you has they possibly can. By offering a free online suite of office apps, they can learn an awful lot about their users. Think about it: resumes, diaries, journals, legal documents, research papers, books being written, and much much more.

Think Google’s not scanning what you create or upload? Of course they are. Think they’re not cataloging what you create? Then why do they care about what you create and if any of it violates their Terms of Service?

This phenomena is not unique to Google. Facebook is doing it with every post you create, and every image you post. The recent Napalm Girl (archive 1, archive 2) incident made international headlines when Facebook decided to censor an image posted by Norwegian newspaper “Aftenposten” posted the iconic image along with its story and it was flagged (and removed) by Facebook’s censors.

So what can you do if you don’t want your documents, or your thoughts to be Googled or indexed and cataloged? Your best option is to host the documents yourself, or pay for a service from a Company who’s primary business isn’t advertising.

Recommendation 0: Don’t store your shit in The Cloud

The best recommendation of them all? Don’t store anything in “The Cloud” that you wouldn’t be comfortable being plastered on the bulletin board at your work, apartment, or church. This includes don’t have your Documents folder “backed up to Dropbox” or sync’d to OneDrive either.

There’s a concept in Information Security called “your perimeter”. This refers to the physical and electronic walls that surround and guard your data. For home users, this is your PC. But once your data leaves your PC like if you uploaded your document “to the cloud”, then you’ve lost control over the data, and can’t guarantee that it won’t inadvertently get leaked, or be stolen, or destroyed.

Therefore, the single best option (above everything else) is not to store your shit in The Cloud. Full stop.

Recommendation 1: NextCloud

But if not storing your documents in The Cloud is not an option, there are alternatives! NextCloud is an open-source web application that’s super-easy to install. All it requires is a web server to get started, and it can even be installed on the $35 RaspberryPi! More complex installations (or if you want to grant your family, friends, and coworkers the ability to share and edit your documents) will require a domain ($8/ yr) and web hosting ($5/ mo).

NextCloud has apps for your iPad, iPhone, and Android, and clients to sync your data to your “private cloud” for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Best of all, you can link your server with others and share and collaborate on your documents securely, and without having to worry about Big Brother spying on what you’re doing.

Recommendation 2: Pay for It

Look, it’s simple. If you’re paying for a service, then the Company offering that service would be less incentivized to trying to make money off what you’re storing with them since they already have a revenue stream.

In another post I’ll tackle the problems and pitfalls with sites like Facebook and Instagram for sharing your photos and videos, and introduce you to some alternatives without losing the connection to your friends and family both Facebook and Instagram provide.

If you have a question about privacy or security, feel free to leave it in the comments below.